HighLevel Discussions
by Kara1626
Summary: Sequel to "Never Lie to an Admiral" and "Idiocy to the Nth Degree". WARNING: Contains discussion of non-consensual spanking of adults.


**Disclaimer: Still not my characters.**

**WARNING: Discussion of non-consensual spanking of adults.**

_**Note: Sequel to "Never Lie to an Admiral" and "Idiocy to the Nth Degree". **_

The Admiral shook his head a little to bring himself back to the present. Lieutenant Roberts was still stammering along trying to give a thorough report on…well, actually Admiral Chegwidden had no idea what Bud was talking about. Not that that was terribly unusual.

"Uh, thank you, Lieutenant. Commander, you'll follow up on all of that," he said, then immediately brought the meeting to a close. He had other things on his mind, and was suddenly worried that if he allowed the staff meeting to continue before he could clear his head, he'd miss something important. Or worse, authorize something he'd later regret.

As his small staff gathered their folders and papers, he walked out into the hall outside the conference room then stopped to wait. As expected, Commander Rabb and Major MacKenzie exited the room arguing about something. Would those two ever stop acting like a couple of bratty siblings?

"Commander, drop off your files and come see me," he said nonchalantly.

"Yes Sir," Harm answered, a little nervously. What could he possibly have done now? He dropped his files on his desk and headed reluctantly to the Admiral's office. Mac had mysteriously vanished. She was quite good at that.

"Come on in Commander." Harm entered and shut the door. "Have a seat." Harm sat nervously, still wracking his brain for what possible infraction could have landed him in that particular chair this time.

The Admiral looked at Harm for a moment and saw worry on his handsome face. "Relax, Rabb. I just want to talk."

Harm didn't relax. "What about Sir?" he asked, still nervously.

The Admiral shook his head and laughed. "Son, really. Relax." Harm made a half-hearted effort to relax, but making an effort at relaxing tends to defeat the purpose, so it didn't work well. The Admiral gave up with an inward laugh this time. "Look, we didn't have the best day yesterday, and I thought we ought to have a little chat."

"Sir, I'm sorry…"

"You already apologized. That's not why we're here," the Admiral interrupted, as kindly as the Admiral ever spoke. "I want to talk to you about something you said yesterday."

Harm sat up a little straighter in his chair, and looked a little less dejected. "What's that Sir?"

"Well, you said that you appreciated that I don't let you get away with being an idiot."

"Yes Sir," Harm said, becoming a little unsure of the situation again.

"Did you mean that?"

"Yes Sir," he answered. He really was not comfortable with the direction of the conversation. He'd made that comment just minutes after having had his bare backside whipped with the Admiral's belt…

AJ nodded thoughtfully before he continued. "Harm, I don't know if you know this or not, but I've come to think of you as my son. No, I really have," he said in response to Harm's surprised look. "I wanted to tell you that because I have a question I need you to answer. And I need you to be completely honest with me. I want the truth, you understand?"

Harm swallowed hard. "Yes Sir," he said after a brief moment.

He nodded again, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Harm, I've dealt with you rather, um, unofficially a couple of times now. It was what I felt was best at the moment. Both times. And I'll be honest with you, I'm pretty sure there will be more times in the future – and knowing you, probably the very near future – when I'll think it's the only way to deal with something you've done." Harm smiled sheepishly. "Here's the question: Do _you_ think I made the right decision when it came to dealing with your, well, immaturity?"

Harm looked at the Admiral for a moment, then stood up and walked over to the fireplace. He stood staring at the clock on the mantle for a long time. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Sir, as much as I hated those two meetings, I have to admit, it's what my father probably would have done if I'd pulled anything like that when I was growing up." He stopped and turned around. "But, I'm not sure how I feel about it now. I mean, I am an adult. It just seems a little…I don't know…"

Harm stopped and started pacing the room. The Admiral sat back in his chair and watched, but since he could see Harm trying to figure out how to express himself, he kept quiet and waited. This was big, and he didn't want to risk Harm clamming up on him now. He needed to know how he really felt.

After a minute of deep thought, Harm stopped pacing and sat down again. "Sir," he said, rather suddenly, "if you really think of me as your son, I trust you enough to do what you think is best. I may not always like it, but if I'm going to act like an idiot, what choice do you have?" He grinned his most charming grin, and the Admiral laughed involuntarily.

"You're sure?" he asked, still laughing a little bit.

"Yes Sir. I'm sure," Harm answered, still grinning.

"All right," the Admiral said, standing up and walking over to Harm. "Just remember something."

"What's that Sir? " Harm asked, standing up.

"I'm not a young man. I don't know how much more of you I can take. So at least _try_ to think before you do things?"

"I can't make any promises Sir," Harm said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," the Admiral replied. "You're dismissed, Commander."

"Thank you Sir. Really."

The Admiral nodded, but resisted the urge to pat the man on the back. "Oh, Commander, would you ask Major MacKenzie to come in here?"

"Yes Sir," Harm answered, then turned and left without another word.

* * * * *

Mac knocked on the open door of the Admiral's office. "You wanted to see me Sir?"

"Shut the door and have a seat, Major." When Mac was seated, he continued. "I wanted to ask you something, and I need a truthful answer. Understood?"

"Yes Sir." Oddly, Mac had the same look on her face that Harm did when the Admiral had said the same think not too long ago.

This was going to be a harder conversation than the last one, but the Admiral knew that this one was even more important. There was more at stake here, and he knew it. He struggled, uncharacteristically, with where to start. He decided to take the direct route. "A couple of weeks ago, you disobeyed me and lied to me, and I punished you for it." Mac blinked hard but quickly regained her composure. "Do you know why I did what I did?"

"No Sir," Mac answered quickly.

"Really?"

Mac thought for a moment, knowing that the Admiral wasn't going to accept the short answer. She sighed, then gave the answer he was expecting. "You did it because I put myself in danger, I disobeyed you, I lied about it and because it was the quickest and easiest way to deal with it."

This was going to be harder than he thought. "Sarah," he said kindly, "do you really think that's why I did it?" She was a little surprised at the use of her given name, but it got her attention. "It's not," he said, knowing that he was getting somewhere. "Do you want to know the real reason?" She wasn't sure she did, but she consented anyway. "You scared me that day."

"Sir?"

"It wasn't so much that you put yourself in danger. That didn't surprise me very much. In fact, to some extent, it's what I've come to expect from you – when you believe something is true, you chase after it until you can prove it. It's what makes you good at your job." Mac blushed lightly. She wasn't used to compliments. "But what scared me was that you felt like you couldn't trust me so you lied to me."

"Sir, I didn't…"

"Hear me out, Major," the Admiral interrupted quietly. "Just like the Commander, you've become like a daughter to me and I would do anything to protect you. When you lied to me, I wasn't able to do that and it scared me."

"Sir, you…spanked me…because I scared you?" Mac said, stumbling over the words.

"No, I spanked you because you disobeyed me and lied to me," he said matter-of-factly. But before she could sputter a response, he continued. "But I wouldn't have done that if you were just another Marine in my command. I did it because…"

"You did it because you think of me as a daughter, and it's what any good father would have done," Mac said with a small smile.

The Admiral finally relaxed. "Exactly." He returned the smile then sobered for a minute. "Tell me the truth. What do you think?"

Mac shrugged. "Well, Sir, I can't say I liked it at the time, and yes, I was pretty angry about it for a while, but eventually, I figured out that there was probably a good reason for what you did. I guess I was right."

The Admiral was surprised, in spite of himself. "And that's ok with you?"

Mac smiled softly. "I plan on avoiding it at all costs in the future, but if you ever think it's what I need, I trust you."

"That's what I needed to hear. But Sarah," he said quietly, "if you change your mind, you need to tell me. Understood?"

"Yes Sir," she said, then smiled slyly. "So Sir, what did you do to Harm last night?"

The Admiral moved to the other side of the desk and leaned against it right in front of Mac. "Major MacKenzie, Commander Rabb is your partner. He really does land himself in deep waters enough on his own. If you ever set him up like that again, believe me, you'll find out. Clear?"

Mac nodded reluctantly, "Clear Sir."

"Good. That will be all." Mac stood up, snapped to attention, turned and left. The Admiral smiled to himself then turned to the business of the afternoon.


End file.
